Sorting various pieces of silverware by kind and size



U Unlted States Patent 1111 3,545,

[72] Inventor David L. Nystuen [56] Refer nces Cited ggggg Minneso"UNITED STATES PATENTS P 1 3,011,613 l2/l96l Vilmerding 193/43 [22] FlledOct. 11,1968 3 297 I30 1 967 1 1 ll Greck l98/33(RI)UX [45] PatentedDec. 8,1970 3 3m 39 l 73 Assignee Economics Laboratory, Inc. 3 x32;31:35; 583%? SL Paul Minnesota m a corporation ofbelaware PrimaryExamlner-Richard A. Schacher AuorneyMc Lean, Morton and Boustead [54]SORTING VARIOUS PIECES OF SILVERWARE BY KIND AND SIZE 4 Claims? DrawmgFigs ABSTRACT: Apparatus for sorting silverware utensils of vari- [52]US. Cl. 209/85, ous kinds which conveys individual silverware utensilsalong a 193/43, 198/33, 209/97 path on a table provided with slots suchthat the utensils are [5 l] Int. Cl. B07c 1/14 separately graded bylengths alone, or combined with ap- [50] Field of Search 209/73, 97,paratus for thereafter orienting the separated utensils of each99,106,107, 83, 85; 193/43; l98/33(RI) kind uniformly.

PATENTEU DEC 8 I970 SHEET 2 OF 3 INVI'INI'UR. DAVID L.NYSTUEN PATENTEDuse 81970 3.545313 sum 3 0F 3 DAVID L.NYSTUEN.

HY q wm M ATTORNEYS SORTING VARIOUS PIECES OF SILVERWARE BY KIND ANDSIZE This invention relates to an apparatus for sorting silverwareutensils. more specifically this invention relates to an apparatus forsorting silverware utensils including knives, forks, and spoons andthereafter orienting the sorted utensils so that all handles face in thesame direction.

In commercial and institutional kitchens there is a need for efficientapparatus to clean, sort, and handle silverware. Automatic cleaners areused to remove soil from dirty silverware but'sorting clean silverwareis an operation often carried out by hand and is time consuming andexpensive.

Silverware sorters which have been used to separated a mixture of eatingutensils into component utensils are cumbersome and leave much room forimprovement. Known devices sort silverware, for example, by means oftraps sized to distinguish between the different widths of knives,forks, and spoons. In known devices there are no means for orientingsorted silverware so that all handles face in the same direction. Wherelarge numbers of utensils are used per unit time, as in hotels, schools,and other institutions, it is important that the cleaned silverware haveuniform handle orientation so that the sorted utensils may beimmediately used again. This reduces handling time and permits theinstitution to maintain a lower inventory of silverware for a givenfeeding demand.

It is thus a primary object of this invention to provide an apparatuswhich sorts silverware utensils into component groups.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide apparatuswhich automatically orients the sorted silverware uniformly.

These and other objects are obtained in accordance with the presentinvention utilizing a sorting table having an upwardly facing surfaceinclined to the horizontal, a plurality of a parallel slots through thesurface of the table disposed along a path on the table surface, theslots increasing in length from one end of the path to another, and theslots extending longitudinally upwardly on the table surface from acommon baseline along the path..Also' provided is a conveyor includingone or more pockets on the table surface adjacent the end of the pathhaving the shortest slot. The pockets are positioned to receivelengthwise a utensil sliding downwardly on the slanted table surface andto retain the utensil positioned parallel to the slots. The conveyoralso includes a drive for moving the pockets along the pathfrom one endto the other, along the baseline and over said slots, whereby eachutensil is deposited in the'first slot over which it travels in a pocketof sufficient length to receive it. The slots lead to means forreceiving the sorted knives, f'orksand spoons and to means for orientingthe utensils so that all handles face in the same direction. The finalsorted silverware may thus be used immediately for its intended purpose.

The knife orienting means include a narrow feed chute down which theknives slide, a ledge in that feed chute over which the longitudinallyalined knives pass and a reversing block down from and opposite theledge. The blades of knives proceeding blade first strike the reversingblock because the heavier handle maintains the blade parallel to thechute. A lip on the reversing block holds the blade up while the handlefalls and the knife thenproceeds handle first down the chute to a bin.Knives proceeding handle first in the feed chute do not strikethe'reversing block because the weight of the handle causes them to tipover the ledge.

The spoon and fork orienting means include a pair of counterrotatedrollers tilted from the horizontal alongtheir longitudinal axes, therollers diverging downwardly from a substantially contiguousrelationship to a distance greater than the maximum width of a fork orspoon. The sorted utensil is deposited on and alined with the rollersand proceeds downwardly along the rotating and diverging rollers untilits handle, which is its narrowest portion, falls between the rollers.The utensil continues to slide downwardly on the rollers and finallyfalls between them, the handle of the utensil striking the furtherinclined bottom of a trough located below the rollers and the utensilsliding down the trough to a bin. The utensil is thus caused to fall ina handle-first orientation and proceeds downwardly in the trough to thebin.

The invention is more fully described in the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the sorting table, the sorting slots and thesilverware conveying means;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the knife orienting means situatedadjacent and below the sorting table;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the knife orienting means taken alonglines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is-a perspective view of the orientation means for forks andspoons, which is located adjacent and below the slots in the sortingtable;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a spoon oriented by the meansof FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is an endwise elevation of a spoon in the orienting throughshowing more particularly the function of the trough.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 reference numeral 10 refers to a sorting table. It hasan upwardly facing surface inclined to the horizontal about axis 12-12with the upper half of the table, as shown in the drawing, having ahigher elevation than the lower half. The table has a series of slots inits surface which are designated by reference numerals 14, l6, 18, 20,22, and 24. These slots extend transversly of axis 12-12 from a commonbaseline 26 which is parallel to axis 12-12. The slots are of greaterlength proceeding fromleft to right and the length of each is set sothat silverware moved across it by the conveyor arms discussed belowwill drop into theslot and be collected in a suitable bin or besubjected to handle orientation, as is discussed below. The length ofseveral slots is adjustable by means of sliding drawers 28, 30, 32, 34,and 36, mounted flush within sorting table 10. These drawers havehandles 38 to facilitate adjustment of the slot size mounted flush sothat no impedance to the passage of silverware is presented.

Silverware is conveyed across the series of apertures in a directionparallel to axis 12-12 and are maintained in an alinement transverse tothat axis. The conveyor means comprises two driving wheels 40 and 42 ateither end of the sorting table, an endless belt 44 around those wheelsand a plurality of closely spaced conveyor members 46 attached to theendless belt. These members extend transversly of axis 12-12 and arespaced to provide pockets so that a single utensil placed between themis maintained in'the necessary alinement as it passes over slots 14through 24. As shown, silverware is conveyed across the slots due to thetilt in the sorting table, with one end sliding along shelf 48, and theother end sliding along the ends of the drawers which determine the slotsize. Eventually each spoon, fork, and knife drops into a slot and issorted. A trap aperture 50 is provided at the end of the series ofsorting slots and at the upper extension of conveyor arms 46. Silverwarethat has been improperly fed to the conveying means is trapped thereinand can be returned to the sorting apparatus.

In operation, silverware utensils are fed singly via chute 52 to thepockets between conveyor arms 46. A device which can be used for alininga mixture of silverware is described in my copending U.S. Pat.application Ser. No. 766,766, filed Oct. 11, I968. onto The knifeorienting means is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It comprises a narrow,declining feed chute 60, the upper end 62 of which is located just belowthe slot into which knives are sorted. The knives are in an axialalinement as they are received into feed chute 60 and the chute issufficiently narrow so that the axial alinement is not lost. The knivesslide downwardly along the feed chute at an angle sufficiently steep sothat the knives slide easily therealong. The knives slide over a ledge64 in the feed chute. If the knife is proceeding handle first, it tiltsand drops over ledge 64 onto a steeply declining discharge chute 66 andcontinues along said discharge chute into a collection bin. If the knifeis proceeding blade first along feed chute 60, it has a highertrajectory over ledge 64 than that of a knife proceeding handle firstand it collides with a reversing block 68 located in its flight path.The reversing block has a knife blade impact face 70 opposite ledge 64in feed chute 60 and is located directly in the flight path of a knifeproceeding blade first. The impact face is located greater than a knifelength from ledge 64. The reversing block also has a step 72 at itslower extremity extending toward ledge 64. The purpose of this step isto support the knife blade momentarily while gravity acts upon the knifehandle, now free of ledge 64 because of the location of impact face 70,and effects reversal thereof. Although substantial variation in designis possible to provide maximum efficiency for various knives, it isimportant only that the step have a width sufficient partially tosupport a knife blade during the reversal process, but not such width asto interfere with the passage of knives proceeding handle first. Thusthe discharge chute and the reversing block must be sufficiently distantfrom each other to permit reversal of knives proceeding blade first.

The orienting means associated with the slots into which forks andspoons are sorted is shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. It

comprises a pair of rollers 80 and 82 which decline from the horizontalat the same angle. The high ends of the rollers can be, for example,directly beneath a slot into which forks or spoons are sorted. Therollers 80 and 82 are substantially contiguous at that point. Therollers diverge from one another, however, at their lower extension.Means are provided to rotate the two rollers counter to one another andthis is shown simply as a motor 84, axle 86, gear 88, reversing gear 90,and driver axles 92 and 94. As shown more clearly in FIG. 5, forks aredeposited from the sorting aperture bin onto rollers 80 and 82, eithertines first or handle first, and proceed downwardly along the rollers.The rollers diverge from a contiguous relationship at the upper end to adivergence at the lower end which is greater than the maximum width ofthe fork or spoon being sorted. By maximum width is meant generally themaximum dimension transverse to the handle axis of the utensil and morespecifically the width across the tines of a fork or the bowl of aspoon. At an intermediate point, the divergence of the rollers is equalto the width of the handle of the fork or spoon being oriented, and thehandle drops through the rollers and hangs vertically therebelow. Thisis shown more clearly in FIG. 7 where the handle of spoon 96 has fallenbetween the rollers and the spoon is supported by its bowl 98.

Below rollers 80 and 82 is trough 100 which is shaped in the manner of aV and runs beneath the entire length of the rollers and parallelthereto. Trough 100 has upwardly extending sides 102 and 104 whichprevent any substantial movement of the utensil handle transverse to theaxis of rollers 80 and 82. This is shown more clearly in FIG. 7 and 106where spoon handle 108 is contacting side 104 of trough 100. Trough 100declines from the horizontal in the same direction as do rollers 80 and82. Its purpose is to provide a slanting impact surface for the handleof the silverware utensil dropping between rollers 80 and 82. Theutensil handle, as mentioned above, first drops through the rollers andhangs vertically above trough [00. As the utensil continues its passagealong rollers 80 and 82, the divergence of those rollers increases andfinally the utensil falls downward onto trough 100. Upon impact with thedeclining surface of trough 100, the utensil retains its handle-firstorientation and slides in that orientation down trough 100 to acollection bin.

Trough 100 may alternatively decline in the opposite direction fromrollers 80 and 82 and preferably it declines at a relatively steep angleto the horizontal so that handle-first orientation of the sorted utensilis ensured.

Iclaim:

I. An apparatus for sorting silverware utensils including knives, forks,and spoons, comprising:

a sorting table having an upwardly facing surface inclined to thehorizontal;

means defining a plurality of parallel slots through the surface of saidtable, said slots being disposed along a path on said surface, saidslots increasing in length from one end of said path to the other, andsaid slots extending lon gitudinally upwardly on said surface from acommon baseline along said path;

conveyor means including means for defining a pocket on said surfaceadjacent said one end of said path positioned to receive lengthwise autensil sliding downwardly on said surface and to retain said utensilpositioned parallel to said slots, said conveyor means further includingmeans for moving said pocket along the said path from said one end tothe other, along said baseline and over said slots;

whereby each utensil is deposited in the first slot over which ittravels in said pocket of sufficient length to receive it;

means associated with a said slot for receiving utensils deposited insaid slot; and.

orientation means associated with said slot into .which knives aresorted including:

a narrow declining feed chute into which sorted knives are received anddown which said knives slide in lengthwise alignment;

a ledge terminating said feed chute;

a reversing block having a knifeblade impact face confronting saidledge, the reversing block being located greater than a knife lengthfrom said ledge in the flight path of a knife proceeding blade firstover said ledge;

a step at the lower extremity of said impact face extending toward saidledge, said, step having a width sufficient to support a knifeblade tipduring reversal of knives proceeding blade first; and

a steeply declining discharge chute below said ledge, said dischargechute being at all points sufficiently distant from said reversing blockto permit the reversal of knives proceeding blade first.

2. An apparatus for sorting silverware utensils including knives, forks,and spoons, comprising:

a sorting table having an upwardly facing surface inclined to thehorizontal;

means defining a plurality of parallel slots through the surface of saidtable, said slots being disposed along a path on said surface, saidslots increasing in length from one end of said'path to the other, andsaid slots extending longitudinally upwardly on said surface from acommon baseline along said path;

conveyor means including means for defining a pocket on said surfaceadjacent said one end of said path positioned to receive lengthwise autensil sliding downwardly on said surface and to retain said utensilpositioned parallel to said slots, said conveyor means further includingmeans for moving said pocket along the said path from said one end tothe other, along said baseline and over said slots;

whereby each utensil is deposited in the first slot over which ittravels in said pocket of sufficient length to receive it;

means associated with a said slot for receiving utensils deposited insaid slot; and

orientation means associated with said slot into which one of forks andspoons are sorted including:

a pair of adjacent rollers having coplanar axes and diverging surfacesdefining a diverging vertical opening between the surfaces of therollers such that the distance between the rollers at one set of ends isless than the cross section of the handle of the utensil to be orientedand the distance between the rollers at the other set of ends is greaterthan the maximum cross section of the utensil to be oriented, the uppersurfaces of the rollers declining downwardly from said one set of ends,and means for delivering said utensils alined lengthwise over saidvertical opening adjacent said one set of ends;

means associated with said rollers to provide counter rotation thereofsuch that the roller surfaces rotate upwardly adjacent the verticalopening:

a declining trough positioned gen-1: .ny parallel to said rollersbeneath and alined lengthwise with said vertical opening to catchutensils falling therethrough and to restrain lateral movement ofutensils falling therethrough; and

the declining trough being positioned a sufficient distance beneath saidvertical opening to permit free longitudinal movement of a handle of autensil depending through the vertical opening.

3. An apparatus for orienting knives in in uniform handle relationshipcomprising:

a narrow declining feed chute into which knives are received and downwhich said knives slide in lengthwise alignment;

a ledge terminating said feed chute;

a reversing block having a knifeblade impact face confronting saidledge, the reversing block being located greater than a knife lengthfrom said ledge in the flight path of a knife proceeding blade firstover said ledge;

a step at the lower extremity of said impact face extending toward saidledge, said step having a width sufficient to support a knifeblade tipduring reversal of knives proceeding blade first; and

a steeply declining discharge chute below said ledge, said dischargechute being at all points sufficiently distant from said reversing blockto permit the reversal of knives proceeding blade first.

4. An apparatus for orienting one of forks and spoons in uniform handlerelationship comprising:

a pair of adjacent rollers having coplanar axes and diverging surfacesdefining a diverging vertical opening between the surfaces of therollers such that the distance between the rollers at one set of ends isless than the cross section of the handle of the utensil to be orientedand the distance between the rollers at the other set of ends is greaterthan the maximum cross section of the utensil to be oriented, the uppersurfaces of the rollers declining downwardly from said one set of ends,and means for delivering said utensils alined lengthwise over saidvertical opening adjacent said one set of ends;

means associated with said rollers to provide counter rotation thereofsuch that the roller surfaces rotate upwardly adjacent the verticalopening;

a declining trough positioned generally parallel to said rollers beneathand alined lengthwise with said vertical opening to catch utensilsfalling therethrough and to restrain lateral movement of utensilsfalling therethrough; and

the declining trough being positioned a sufficient distance beneath saidvertical opening to permit free longitudinal movement of a handle of autensil depending through the vertical opening.

